UK: e-petition and proof of citizenship
August 3, 2008
I was both moved and intrigued by Robin Wilton’s plea to support an e-petition “to create a dedicated Military & Veterans Hospital within the UK.”
Moved because it seemed to be a worthy thing to do; intrigued because I wanted to see how they would verify that I met the condition of being a British citizen or resident to sign the petition.
Turns out that all that’s required is a valid address and postcode. If you’re an expat, you don’t even need that. So, “Earnest Hope” became the 41,380th person to sign the e-petition.
It left me wondering just how many other signatures are from people like me? And, does it really matter if the bulk of them are actually from eligible folks?
Also, isn’t there a better way for checking online whether a person is a UK citizen/resident?
That got me thinking about how to verify whether or not a person is a New Zealand citizen or resident. In-person checking is simple enough but what about an online check? Can’t think of a simple way that already exists.
Entry Filed under: NZ, UK, government, identity, igovt, personal_info. .
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